https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWWDwWVVdgc&feature=youtu.be
I feel this deserves a shout out. Saarel refuses to major in a easy subject to skate through the academics to free up time to train. It's clear that he's committed to doing well in school, and unfortunately that's cutting into the running side of things, but he's choosing to let that be so. I applaud his commitment to enriching his brain, and expect that his running will take off once he graduates and has more time to focus on training. It's refreshing to see, and I like this kid.
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- Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to Impressed.
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Same. Student first, athlete second. That guy has my respect. Wish him the best.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to Impressed.
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Totally agree. Not only am I impressed by Saarel challenging himself academically but also by his attitude towards both running and academics. He isn't "blaming" anyone but himself for his performances and he knows it's his responsibility to make the necessary changes to run at the level he's capable of running at. Keep your head up, Ben.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to Doubly Impressed.
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LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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People like you are the reason the NCAA has become a business. Half of these kids coming in just want to run or play their sport and become professional at it because of people like you pushing them to. If he wants to have a higher GPA in case his running career doesn't work out, then let him be, that is smart. Plus he is leaving room to develop his career later if he wants to, i.e.. Peaking at 26-28 rather than 21-23 in college (not sure if his age/birthday).
of course you are wrote:
LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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From the Buff's website: "Saarel is an engineering physics major and currently owns a 3.985 GPA after three semesters at CU." Newsflash: engineering and physics difficult major whether you go to an Ivy League school or State U.
of course you are wrote:
LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
I am a person whose major was also in STEM. Over the years, I had a decent amount of breakdowns and sickness due to stress. Being in a cognitively demanding major could make it difficult when trying to compete at a decent level (I was a painfully average DIII runner) because time was valuable, and I could rarely afford to put off doing homework if I really wanted to learn the concept (as opposed to procrastinating and not really learning). So at the very least please have some respect for a hard working STUDENT-Athlete.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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You obviously don't know that CU has an extremely well regarded Engineering program!
of course you are wrote:
LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to Buffy
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STEM majors seem to have this victim complex, like we should all feel sorry for them because they're somehow compelled, by virtue of their intelligence, to challenge themselves to exhaustion. The fact of the matter is: this is silly. There are 24 hours in a day, labs take time, and going to class takes time. Even so, you should always have 8 hours of sleep. If not, you're procrastinating and not taking advantage of smart time management. That simple.
Saarel is a young healthy man for chrissakes, he shouldn't be struggling with these issues. It's obvious from his interviews that he struggles with emotional ups and downs. That is the real problem here, which exacerbates academic and athletic difficulties.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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Here is an example of a physics faculty member at the University of Colorado:
of course you are wrote:
LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
http://spot.colorado.edu/~dewolfe/bio.html
Princeton postdoc, MIT Ph.D. If you think that people like that make it an easy department, think again. At such places, you have faculty from all of the top programs.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to jjjjjjj
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That's a pretty bad way of judging a program. Being an MIT PhD doesn't make you a tough professor by any means.
jjjjjjj wrote:
Here is an example of a physics faculty member at the University of Colorado:
http://spot.colorado.edu/~dewolfe/bio.html
Princeton postdoc, MIT Ph.D. If you think that people like that make it an easy department, think again. At such places, you have faculty from all of the top programs.
That being said, to people saying Saarel's making it seem tougher than it is, I don't know if that's particularly true. True, he should be able to be decent D1 runner and do all the school he wants and get a moderate amount of sleep. But he's not just any D1 runner. He's at the top, and all his runner peers at his level don't prioritize academics the way he does. It may be possible, but it would be really difficult to match the training of the best D1 runners, keep his GPA up, and also get enough sleep.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to Impressed.
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Okay Dads.
Who cares? You can finish school later. You only have a limited window for athletics.
Impressed. wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWWDwWVVdgc&feature=youtu.be
I feel this deserves a shout out. Saarel refuses to major in a easy subject to skate through the academics to free up time to train. It's clear that he's committed to doing well in school, and unfortunately that's cutting into the running side of things, but he's choosing to let that be so. I applaud his commitment to enriching his brain, and expect that his running will take off once he graduates and has more time to focus on training. It's refreshing to see, and I like this kid.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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"First off, this kid isn't at the University of Oregon" is what you meant to say. Saarel does well in cross country, top ten frosh and soph years in late Nov, before class finals. I assume the long year burns him out.
of course you are wrote:
LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
CU is pretty renowned for Engineering Physics. I have a friend who dropped out of Computer Engineering (34 ACT) because he couldn't hack physics, and he's a smart kid.
I would put my money on Saarel having a successful life after college over many elite college runners w/soft majors. Still hope he figures it out for track next year.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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Ivy League schools are a joke in terms of academics for the most part. They have prestige and nothing else. They are stuffed with the well connected. Hell, look this up; if you're Jewish, it increases your odds of getting in literally a hundred fold, even if you're grades and test scores are less than stellar (google Ron Unz and the Ivy League - a smart Jewish guy embarrassed by what's going on - look up the "Harvard Number").
of course you are wrote:
LOL
DWEEB ALERT
First off, the kid isn't in Ivy League school, it's Colorado for chrissakes. Plenty of guys are in hard or harder programs, doing just as well and not making excuses. Saarel is just emotionally fragile. You can see it in the way he hems and haws and just acts generally. Yea, let's applaud him going through the motions on the track. I'd rather watch more talented & dedicated runners than this hack
When you meet an Ivy League student, most of the time they're just some well connected prima donna, not a top drawer student.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to of course you are
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What I think a lot of people miss here if they havent been in this sort of position is the chronic mental stress that comes with training and balancing academics.
Personally, I found that this was the toughest part for me. It's not about how many hours are in a day, or time management. It's stressful having to finish off your schoolwork by a set time only to go out and beat yourself up, often twice a day, and then come back and do more studying.
Ben is a smart, talented guy, but it's hard for anybody to focus 100% on one area without compromising another. Most people at this level choose to put all of their energy into the sport in the hopes of going pro. I think its really commendable that Ben is still prioritizing school.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to DKCCC
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On another note, how the hell do you have a 3.985 and not a 4.0? He must have gotten a B in Intro to College or something sweet like that
DKCCC wrote:
From the Buff's website: "Saarel is an engineering physics major and currently owns a 3.985 GPA after three semesters at CU.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to SUUUhrel not SAIRell
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Ben's obviously one of these guys that pulls his hair out over an A-
If he chooses to pursue academics over athletics, go right ahead. Good riddance!
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to couldn't care less
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For some perspective, Ben's easiest class is hundreds of times more difficult than anything grampa ches will ever take a eugene clown kollege. Grampa ches would maybe last up to the point where Ben's professor comes in on the first day, says hello and writes his name on the board.
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to um, eugene clown kollege
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does make me wonder... how does Ches do in school? Does he have a tutor? Does he have a private helper or is he just in a bunch of easy classes?
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to educator guyy
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I hear Ches sits and kicks on his exams. Takes it easy until there's about 55 seconds left, then starts answering questions like crazy.
educator guyy wrote:
does make me wonder... how does Ches do in school? Does he have a tutor? Does he have a private helper or is he just in a bunch of easy classes?
;-)
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- RE: Impressed by Saarel not compromising on the academics - in reply to Impressed.
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He's obviously a very bright, very talented kid, but seems like he puts too much pressure on himself. I would watch him though, no need another Madison Holleran type situation.
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